The FSA says it needs more time to consider the costs and benefits of introducing professional requirements for advisers selling pure protection.
At present it is anticipated the pure protection module of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) will require advisers to attain QCF Level 3, rather than QCF Level 4 as expected for investment advisers.
In its response to the feedback received from the last consultation paper, the regulator noted there was "no overwhelming response either for or against requiring professional standards for pure protection advisers, but that the majority of respondents were to some degree in favour."
It added that the "complexity of protection products means that the provision of high quality explanations by firms to consumers buying these products is particularly important."
In conclusion, it says it will further consider the "possible costs and benefits of introducing professional requirements for those selling pure protection, as a way of improving the quality of sales in general and explanations in particular.
"We will also examine other regulatory options to achieve the desired improvement in the quality of pure protection sales."
For the RDR, pure protection products are classified as: term assurance, critical illness cover (CIC) and income protection (IP).
Payment protection insurance (PPI) has so far been excluded.
The next pure protection consultation on the labeling of adviser services from the FSA is expected in the third quarter of this year, with the consultation on Professionalism standards (CP10/14) closing on 28 September.
The results and policy statement for CP10/14 will be released in December.
